Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Early mishaps shape game for Colfax Bulldogs
Mason Gilchrist (#40) blocks Chewelah players for Kyle Dial (#5) as he runs the ball up the field.
Mason Gilchrist (#40) tries to sweep around Chewelah's linemen.
CHEWELAH — Reardan Coach Eric Nikkola said it was going to be a "heck of a matchup." When Colfax went to Chewelah last Friday night to play Jenkins High School, it was as advertised.
It had blocked punts, dropped passes, a safety, small linemen out-blocking bigger ones, Colfax more than doubling Jenkins' total offense and the Cougars' decorated running back breaking the game with a 90-yard interception for a touchdown.
"We won all the battles, but lost the war," said Colfax Coach Mike Morgan.
The two blocked punts were against the Bulldogs, leading to two early Jenkins touchdowns.
Layne Gingerich played the entire game at quarterback for Colfax while the second part of the dual-QB format, Damien Demler, lined up at receiver and caught a 46-yard touchdown pass.
But the punt mishaps and dropped passes for Colfax haunted them. A couple may have been scoring threats.
In the end, the Bulldogs needed one last drive to win and it stalled at midfield.
"I used to coach basketball, and it's not the free throws at the end, it's the free throws in the second quarter," Morgan said. "It's really all the stuff that came before."
Jenkins scored to take their last lead with 1:40 left, after a long kick return to the Bulldogs' 20.
Looking at a 10-man defensive front all night, Colfax ran the option to outgain the Cougars 376 yards to 168.
Colfax trailed 14-0 before scoring 16 unanswered points in the second quarter to take the lead into halftime.
"We righted the ship. We were in good shape," Morgan said. "We had plenty of opportunities to win. They just made a couple more plays than we did. You can't win games on stats."
In the third quarter, Colfax drove again, with the ball on Jenkins' 10-yard line, when Kaden Krause intercepted a Gingerich pass and ran it all the way back.
The Bi-County 2B league's top threat at running back, Krause, was contained at 72 yards rushing in the game. Jacob Brown, for Colfax, ran for 80 yards as center Anthony Becker and the Colfax line blocked the bigger Cougars.
"I bet we were giving up 30 pounds, sometimes 40 pounds per man," said Morgan. "Our front five and six guys just blocked their tails off."
With a jammed line of scrimmage, Gingerich ran keepers outside or pitched to Kyle Dail, Mason Gilchrist, and Ryan Henning.
"I thought Layne played a terrific game," Morgan said. "I fully intended to play Damien, but Layne was doing everything I wanted him to do and Damien was causing matchup problems on the outside because of his speed."
Gingerich went 7-for-21 passing for 132 yards and three touchdowns.
Colfax (2-2) now prepares for Northwest Christian (0-3) Friday at 3 p.m. in Spokane to conclude the five-game regular season. Then coaches will vote to match up the no. 1 vs. 2 team, 3 vs. 4 and 5 vs. 6 for a de facto playoff game.
No district or state playoffs will follow.
The Bulldogs, with losses to Liberty and Jenkins, will likely be in the 3 vs. 4 game.
"We're down to two weeks of football, and it's finite," said Morgan.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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